Three Fundamentals of Political Campaigns
By Drew McKissick
It’s a fundamental truth of politics that if you don’t win, you can’t govern. You can’t implement policy if you aren’t elected to a position that allows you to do so, or if you don’t have sympathetic elected officials that are willing to help. With that being the case, it’s critical that conservatives know the…
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You Can’t Govern If You Don’t Win
By Drew McKissick
When it comes to public policy, elections have consequences. And when it comes to elections, WINNING is all that matters. Not your opinion, the candidate’s opinion or the Party’s opinion. It should go without saying, but it still needs to be said. You can’t govern if you don’t WIN. The only people that get to…
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Run Unopposed, or Run Scared!
By Drew McKissick
It’s been said that there are only two ways to run a political campaign: unopposed or scared. But just what exactly does that mean? It means that before you get in race (or as soon as you do) you do everything that you can to freeze out any potential competition in the campaign, or if…
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The Four Rules to Winning an Election
By Drew McKissick
Do. Not. Get. Sidetracked. When it comes to winning an election or organizing for grassroots success, it’s not complicated. It’s not some secret formula that you need to figure out or pay a lot of money for. It’s pretty simple and straightforward. In fact, the rules haven’t changed since this country first started holding elections.…
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Issues Win Campaigns
By Drew McKissick
Whether you’re running a grassroots organization, a lobbying campaign or an election campaign, issues matter. As legendary South Carolina political consultant Lee Atwater used to say “Issues win campaigns”, and he was exactly right. Issues win campaigns because campaigns are about people…and people are moved by issues. Issues can be used to unite voters behind…
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How to Create a Campaign Plan
By Drew McKissick
Before you get started on any campaign – whether it’s an election campaign or an issue based campaign – you NEED to have a plan. But just as the plan is important, so is the planning process itself. As former President (and General) Eisenhower once said, “Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable”. Over 2,000…
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How to Plan Grassroots Organization
By Drew McKissick
So just how DO you get started with creating a local grassroots organization? It’s simple and doesn’t take a lot of time, but action is critical. We all know the hardest part of “doing” anything is getting started. Having a plan makes it possible. Fail to plan, plan to fail Map out a plan of…
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Know Your Environment
By Drew McKissick
Before you can put together a good plan for any type of campaign, you have to have good information. That means that you need an honest evaluation of the things that will have an impact on the campaign and its ability to succeed. In other words, you need to know your environment. It’s like the…
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Ten Trump Election Lessons
By Drew McKissick
There are always lessons that we can learn from the results of any election, but when one is the most stunning upset in US political history we really need to pay attention. Here are the first lessons that come to mind: 1) Money isn’t what it used to be. Trump won spending about five dollars…
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The Fundamentals of Political Campaigns
By Drew McKissick
It’s a fundamental truth of politics that if you don’t win, you can’t govern. You can’t implement policy if you aren’t elected to a position that allows you to do so, or if you don’t have sympathetic elected officials that are willing to help. With that being the case, it’s critical that conservatives know the…
Read More